Lord God, God, we are weak and we are distracted. We are in need of your word. God, we thank you that in your kindness you've given us your Holy Spirit. You've given us your word. So God, we pray that you would feed us this morning, that you would renew us, that you'd restore us with your truth, with your word. Holy Spirit, come now and give us a greater revelation of Christ and His love for us, what He's done for us. Make that known this morning, please, God. In Jesus' name, amen.
Well, the first thing I want to note is that when reading through this text over and over again, and maybe even at first glance, um, you caught it, but I've had the opportunity to read through this text probably 50, maybe 100 times, I'm not sure, in preparing for this, looking through commentaries and I have an audio Bible, so I tried to listen to Malachi 1 and 2 and 3 as much as I could the last couple of weeks just to get a context for what was going on. And this word, as I kept reading through, this word kept popping off the page. And this word isn't really a positive or a happy word to talk about. It's not necessarily a word that we like to magnify. But nonetheless, this word is highlighted over and over again in this section, and that word is the word faithless. Some Bibles might translate that same word as treachery or treacherous, but that word is faithless.
So this section, again and again, it highlights the faithlessness of— and treachery of Israel, the faithlessness of those the Israelites, that those who God set apart and specifically called to be faithful to him, what are they doing? They're being faithless in their covenant with one another. And we'll see that when they're faithless in their covenant towards one another, ultimately that's a symptom of them being faithless in their covenant towards God. So in the, in the 7 verses we just read, Malachi 2:10-16, the 7 verses we just read in this section, the word translated from the Hebrew is the Hebrew as faithless or treacherous. That word faithless appears 5 times in this section. And what's interesting is this Hebrew word, that Hebrew word faithless, it's translated as by Gad. In the Hebrew, it appears nowhere else in Malachi. This is the only place this word faithless, by Gad, appears in Malachi in this small section, and it appears 5 times in these 7 verses.
So obviously the prophet Malachi, filled with the very words of God, he has a proclamation to the nation of Israel. He's trying to emphasize in this section And that's this faithlessness and treachery towards one another and ultimately towards God. It's abounding. It's pervasive. It's beginning to creep in to the way God's chosen people, the covenant people, are living their lives. What they're considering as culturally acceptable and okay, it's beginning to creep in. And seep in and take root into the way they live their lives. It's a message that the people who are called by God, the people who are set apart as his very own possession, the people who are given access to the very presence of God— remember who we're talking about. These are God's chosen people, God's covenant people, the ones who are given access to the presence of God, the ones who would go into the sanctuary and encounter the living God. What are they prone to? What are they being given over to? What are they bending towards? What's their mindset leaning towards? It's faithlessness, treachery, and specifically in regards to relationships and marriage.
So practically, people— practically speaking, what the people were doing was they were in exile. Babylon for 70 years. They're back now in the land of Judah. And what they were doing is they were finding really senseless reasons to divorce their wives, to divorce their spouses, so that they could either marry the daughters of the foreign, foreign, foreign men who were committed to foreign gods, or they just wanted to divorce their, their wives for senseless purposes because their wives weren't meeting their expectations, their spouses weren't meeting their expectations. The very thing God had warned them not to do, they were falling into that temptation.
So this morning I want to look at this theme of faithlessness in marriage and why Malachi makes this theme such a big deal, why he emphasizes over and over, by Gad, faithlessness.
6 · Isolates and emphasizes Malachi's choice of the word 'abomination' to describe marital faithlessness, confronting both the original audience's and the contemporary listener's likely underestimation of the sin's gravity
It's interesting to note the words that Malachi chooses to use in describing this type of faithlessness. Look at verse 11. Verse 11 says this: Judah has been faithless. And then how does he describe this type of faithlessness? He says Judah has been faithless and abomination has been committed. Now think about this. When's the last time we've thought about faithlessness towards one another, faithlessness in marriage, as an abomination? I mean, just think about the people hearing this. They'd probably be like, really, Malachi? Like, we just got back from Babylon. Those, those people, the people outside of the covenant, they're the ones who are the abomination towards God. They're the ones living in sin. And Malachi says no. Faithlessness in marriage, it's an abomination. Those are strong words, aren't they? You know, maybe we'd view cursing God as an abomination, or maybe setting up an idol in our house and worshiping an idol is an abomination, or bringing a cross in this church and burning it. Maybe we'd say that's an abomination, something really, really big and scary, right? But how does Malachi refer to the faithlessness in marriage as an abomination? These are the words Malachi uses, filled with the Spirit of God.
7 · Unpacks Malachi's additional strong language—'profaning' and 'defiling'—showing that marital faithlessness corrupts both the marriage covenant and the sanctuary where God is encountered
Malachi then goes on to describe what Judah is doing in breaking the covenant of marriage and seeking the daughters of those outside of God's covenant. Malachi says this in verse 10 and 11. He describes it this way. He says this, he says, you are You are profaning the covenant and you are defiling the sanctuary of God. The very place, the very thing that verse 11 notes that God loves. Let's read that real quick again. Verse 11 says, for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves. The sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves. The very place, the very thing that God loves. Malachi saying you are making impure a place and a thing meant and set apart to be holy. You are defiling the very place you are to encounter God and enter the presence of the living God. By living this out, by walking this sin out, you're profaning this covenant that God gave to you.
8 · Steps outside the exposition to address the listener directly about the emotional weight of Malachi's language, inviting them to feel the prophet's urgent concern for covenant reformation
Again, these are some strong words that the prophet uses, and you can really feel just even reading. If this is your first time you've read this, maybe in a long time, you can feel the sense of passion that Malachi has. There is an urgency in his words for reformation in the way that Israelites are treating and viewing the marriage covenant.
9 · Exposes Israel's hypocritical worship pattern: breaking covenant through marital faithlessness while simultaneously offering tearful sacrifices and questioning God when He rejects them
And then Malachi continues to charge the people of Israel in verse 13 and 14. He says this in verse 13 and 14, he says, and this second thing you do, you cover the Lord's altar with tears, with weeping and groaning, because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. But you say, why does he not? The people respond to God, why do you not offer? Why do you not accept our sacrifices, God? So to paraphrase what Malachi is saying to the Israelites, essentially he's saying you're living a lie, you're being deceitful, you're acting hypocritically, and your sacrifices are doing no good at all. 'Look at what you're doing.' He says to the Israelites, 'Not only are you committing these acts of faithlessness and treachery by breaking the marriage covenant and then finding foreign wives to take as your wives, foreign women to take as your wives, but then what do you do next? You go into the sanctuary, the place set aside to encounter me, the living God, And you offer God your sacrifices, expecting God to be pleased with what's going on. And then when God doesn't accept the sacrifices, you cry out and you weep and you wail and you wonder, what's wrong, God? Why are you not accepting our sacrifices?
10 · Builds to the theological climax of the passage by reading Malachi's answer to why God rejects their worship: God Himself was witness to the marriage covenant, and His Spirit performed the uniting—making marital faithlessness a direct offense against God's own work
So you see what's going on here. The people of Israel were breaking covenant with one another, specifically in regards to the marriage relationship. And then what would they do? They would turn around, go into the sanctuary of God, and act like nothing was wrong. It was becoming culturally acceptable to do what the people were doing. And then they would even take it a step further. They would go into the— they would offer their sacrifices, go into the sanctuary, and they'd begin weeping and crying out to God. And then they'd even go as far as questioning God. They say, God, what's wrong with what we're doing? God, why do you not accept our sacrifices? What's going on, God? The people would ask, God, why do you not accept what we have to offer you? And then Malachi goes on to answer their very question. And here's the kick this morning. Here's the seriousness of why this breaking of the marriage covenant is such a big deal. Here's why the strong wording is used. Here's what's at stake. Malachi answers the question in verse 14 and 15. He responds with this. Verse 14 and 15 says, because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant? Did He not make them one with a portion of the Spirit in your union?
11 · Articulates the central theological claim of the sermon: God Himself—specifically the Holy Spirit—is the primary actor who creates and seals every marriage covenant, making it fundamentally God's work rather than a human institution
So why is faithlessness in marriage described as an abomination here in Malachi? How does faithlessness in marriage profane or defile what is meant to be pure and holy? How does Malachi respond? Malachi takes God's perspective. Who is the one creating the union and sealing the covenant? Who is present when this union is formed? It's the very Spirit of God himself. Here we see clearly that God is the one who's the primary doer in bringing a man and a woman into marriage. It's God, it's the Holy Spirit who's the primary doer. His Spirit was the one present, and His Spirit does the joining. It's not a pastor, it's not a priest, it's not a judge, it's not a marriage license, it's not a husband or a wife, it's not a mom or a dad. But it's God himself who brings the man and a woman into this marriage covenant. It's the very spirit of God himself who's present and who does the joining. And that's what Malachi is saying. He's saying this is the seriousness of it. This is God's doing. This is the very spirit of God himself who is there and who did the joining. Verse 15 shows us that It's the very Spirit of God who's present and actively working and sealing the covenant and union of marriage. I like how John Piper, he brings this out so clearly in his book. It's called This Momentary Marriage. John Piper, he says this, he says, it is God who in each marriage ordains and performs a uniting called one flesh. Man does not create this. God does, and it is not in man's power to destroy. Then John Piper, he quotes Genesis 2. He says, the two shall become one flesh, so they are no longer two but one flesh. Then he quotes Mark 10, and he says, what therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. And then he goes on to say, when a couple speaks their vows, it is not a man or a woman or a pastor or a parent who's the main actor, the main doer. Pure, God is. God joins a husband and a wife into a one-flesh union. God does that. Marriage is God's doing because it is a one-flesh union that God himself performs.
12 · Uses the pastor's own marriage license as a concrete object lesson to demonstrate that legal documents do not create the marriage covenant—only the Holy Spirit's work does, making the covenant sacred and inviolable
Well, in my hand I have a document, a legal document from the state of Kansas. I have my marriage license, Noel and I's marriage license. And I think, yeah, there it is. I scanned a copy of this, which now I have a digital backup of this. I never had that before this weekend, which is good to have. But according to the state of Kansas, this piece of paper, this document, this license says that the marriage between Noel and I, it's legally recognized, right? But when Noel and I made our vows to one another before God on September 14th, 2002, it was probably about 2:45 in the afternoon when that happened, when we made those vows to one another. Sorry, I lost my notes. Here we go. What happened in his eyes? Was it this piece of paper? Was it this document that you're looking at right now that binds the covenant we made with one another? Was it this license that I'm holding in my hand? No, it's the very spirit of God himself. And that's what Malachi is reminding the people. That this marriage covenant is not something to tamper with. It's not something to toy with or to treat lightly. When Noel and I made our vows, when our marriage was consummated, it was God who did the ordaining. It was his very spirit who joined the two and made one. This was something instituted by God all the way back to Genesis 2. All the way back to the perfection before sin entered the world, all the way back to the way things were meant to be. The Garden of Eden before sin entered. It was God's creation. It was his very own spirit who does the joining. It's not a piece of paper and it's not a license.
13 · Applies the theological claim to the reality of divorce: attempting to dissolve a marriage is not merely breaking a legal contract but acting in direct opposition to the Holy Spirit's covenant-sealing work
So likewise, if I were to get a lawyer and file for divorce and have this document declared legally null and void, what am I really doing? I'm acting against the very Spirit of God himself. I'm trying to tear apart something that God says the Holy Spirit has united. Something that the Holy Spirit has joined.
14 · Explains Malachi's metaphor of 'covering garments with violence' as describing the destructive nature of attempting to tear apart what God has supernaturally joined—an act of violence against the Spirit's work
Check out how verse 16 describes the person who leaves their spouse. Look at what verse 16— verse 16 describes the person who is faithless or unfaithful in marriage as this. Verse 16 says, he covers his garment with violence. Now, why would Malachi, filled with the very Spirit of God, why would he say that a man or woman, a spouse, covers their garment with violence, the one who is faithless in marriage? Why would he use that word picture? Because that's a pretty strong word picture, right? To cover yourself with violence, the one who is faithless in marriage. Well, it's violent because there is an attempt to tear apart something that was never meant to be torn apart. Divorce can be painful and destructive. Faithlessness in marriage can be painful and destructive on many different levels. And that's why the heavy words like abomination, profaned, and defiled are used to describe what's going on when the people break their covenant vows in marriage. There was a lack of recognition that the very Spirit of God was present when those who made their vow, when, when, when those who made their vows, when the vows were made, that there was a lack of recognizing that it was God himself who sealed the covenant between the man and the woman. And that's what Malachi is doing. He's reminding the people that God was the doer. God is the one who does the uniting.
15 · Pivots from exposition to application by surfacing the anticipated question about biblical grounds for divorce, acknowledging the listener's likely objection before addressing it
So how do we work this out in application in our lives? How do we work this out? And if you're like me, there's probably one big glaring question in your mind right now, because I know there was for me even approaching this subject. There's a glaring question. That question is, well, are there ever any biblical grounds for divorce?
16 · Addresses the divorce question pastorally by acknowledging biblical grounds exist while warning against treating them as escape clauses, urging the congregation to maintain the weight Malachi places on covenant permanence
And rather than in this, this sermon isn't about getting into 1,000 different scenarios on when divorce may or may not be grounds for biblical divorce. What I do want to say is there can be times biblically when there could be grounds for biblical divorce. However, that is something to not tread lightly with. That is not something to take lightly. That is not something to think about lightly. These biblical grounds that we see for divorce in Scripture, they're not a way out. They're not loopholes out of a hard relationship. They're not ways out. They're not ways that we say, well, here's how I can get out of this marriage. Here's how I can get away from this person. And that's what Malachi is reminding the people of the seriousness of this covenant. It is not just this convenient decision that we made, or it's not a convenient decision that we make to absolve a marriage.
17 · Identifies Malachi's repeated command—'guard yourselves in your spirit'—as the key imperative for maintaining covenant faithfulness, noting the emphatic repetition
So how do we work this out? Malachi, he goes on to say, we guard our spirits. In verse 15 and 16, Malachi goes on to say this. Verse 15 and 16 says, so guard yourselves in your spirit and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not be faithless. What does Malachi say twice here in those two verses? He says it twice back to back. He says, guard yourselves in your spirit and do not be faithless. Guard yourselves in your spirit and do not be faithless.
18 · Establishes the thesis for application: the primary means of guarding marriage is not techniques or self-effort but continually returning to the gospel and God's covenant love declared in Malachi 1:2
And now here's the part of the sermon where we could get into 1,000 different ways, and there's probably hundreds of thousands of books, both secular and Christian books, on how we can protect our marriage or quote unquote better our marriages. But what I want to get at this morning is the primary means, the foundation the crux of what it looks like to guard ourselves, where we fix our gaze and our eyes so that we will remain faithful in marriage. I want to look at the place we need to go back to again and again and again. The primary means in which we guard ourselves so that we remain faithful is the gospel. We have to go back to the gospel. We have to go back to looking at Christ. The riches of the mercy and grace of God is shown in what Jesus has done for us on the cross. Malachi goes back to the love of God as well. We go back to Malachi 1 and what Matthew preached a couple of weeks ago. If you didn't hear it, I'd highly encourage you to listen to it. Malachi 1 starts with this. God blankets this whole book with this. In his kindness, God says this. These are the first words of Malachi. God says this to the people. In his kindness, he says, I have loved you. I have loved you, Israelites, my chosen people, my covenant people. I have loved you. I've chosen you. These are the foundational truths that the people are being— that they're forgetting, that are being neglected. When we forget who Christ is and what he's done for us, that's where the problems start, and that's where the root of sin starts to take hold.
19 · Traces the root cause of marital faithlessness back to spiritual heart drift in Malachi 1: the people lost their sense of awe at God's holiness and undeserved covenant love, leading to carelessness, complacency, and eventual covenant-breaking in marriage
Why are the people breaking their marriage vows? Why are they divorcing their wives and marrying the daughters of those who worship foreign gods? It's because of what's happening in chapter 1. Malachi 2, chapter 2, is just a symptom of chapter 1. That's all it is. Malachi chapter 2 is just a symptom of the people's hearts, of their complacency, their lack of reverence, and the lack of seeing the holiness of God in chapter 1. God says to the people in chapter 1, I am the Lord of hosts. I am the God of angel armies. I'm the God I am the one who created everything, and I've chosen you out of all the other nations to be my special possession. God says, you're my— you're my— I've given you the covenant. You're my special possession. I've chosen you. You are nothing. You didn't choose— you didn't choose me. I chose you out of all the nations of the earth to be my special People. God is reminding the people of his love for them. And how do they respond in Malachi 1? How do they respond? They say this. They say, God, how have you loved us? How have you loved us? It's a bore. It's a bother to go to the sanctuary. God, how have you loved us? What have you done for us, God? And I think it's interesting to note, it's interesting to note that from the outside, on the surface, these people really don't look that bad. These are the people who were like— verses Malachi 2:12-13 say that these are the same people. They were going to the sanctuary, they were going to church. They were offering their sacrifices. Everything looked good, right? They would have just been like us. Everything on the outside looked good. But where were their hearts? Ultimately, what's their heart attitude towards the LORD of hosts? There's a carelessness and a lack of admiration and gratitude There's a lack of a sense of the holiness and awe of the mercy and grace of God, that God chose us, that we are God's special possession, that God chose to make a covenant with us. It's not anything we deserved. But how do the people respond? God, how have you loved us? There's a carelessness. And as a result, what happens? Their hearts begin to drift and harden. And when our hearts drift from the truth of who God is and what he's done for us, everything else starts to fall apart. Again, Malachi 2 is a symptom of what's going on in Malachi chapter 1. It's all about our heart.
20 · Brings Jesus's teaching in Mark 10 alongside Malachi to show that Jesus diagnoses divorce as rooted in 'hardness of heart' and reaffirms God's Genesis 2 design for permanent covenant union, identifying even lust as evidence of heart drift from God
Jesus himself said divorce was a heart issue in Mark 10. The Pharisees— and we can read this together— the Pharisees, they come up, they came up to Jesus in Mark 10. They're trying to trick Jesus, to test him. Mark 10:2 says this, it says, and the Pharisees came up and in order to test him, in order to test Jesus, they asked him this. So they go to Jesus and ask him this: Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? And Jesus answered them, what did, what did Moses command you? And they respond, well, Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away. And here's how Jesus responds. And Jesus said to them, because of your hardness of heart, he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, Jesus takes it again back to Genesis 2. From the beginning of creation, from the Garden of Eden, the perfection. From the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together Let not man separate. Jesus reaffirms the covenant design for marriage between a man and a woman as created in Genesis 2 in the garden with Adam and Eve. And Jesus reaffirms what the prophet Malachi exhorts the Israelites. Marriage is about covenant. Marriage was neither designed nor created to end in a breaking of that covenant. This covenant And it is God's doing. God is joining the two to become one. And unfaithfulness in marriage, to whatever extent that may be, to whatever extent that might be— remember, even Jesus himself, he said, even if you look at a woman lustfully, you've committed adultery in your heart. That's serious stuff. He says that's really a symptom of our faithfulness, a lack of holiness, of a view of holiness, a carelessness towards God. It's our hearts drifting from the truth of who God is.
21 · Applies the theological foundation by calling the congregation to ask the Holy Spirit—the One who actually joined their marriages—for help rather than defaulting to self-help resources, and to gather community that points them to Christ rather than hiding struggles
So ultimately, we guard ourselves from unfaithfulness and treachery and hardness of heart by doing what? We ask the Holy Spirit to give us a greater revelation of his glory and how marriage was designed to point him back to himself. And, you know, just real quick, just even off the notes, I was thinking about this as I was preparing again last night and this morning. Isn't it funny, our temptation, how often we neglect to ask the very Spirit who joined our marriages together to ask the Holy Spirit for help in our marriages. It's not interesting. Like, why do we start going other places? Why do we, why do we try to read therapeutic books? Or why do we look to other counsel other than asking the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit's the doer, right? He's the one who joined. He's the one who created. Why do we go to anywhere else but Christ? That's our temptation. That's what we're prone to. We try to hide it. Instead of gathering people around us who can point us to Christ, what do we try to do? We try to hide it. We try to go other places.
22 · Unpacks Ephesians 5:32's revelation that marriage is designed to display Christ's covenant relationship with the church, then traces the full gospel arc—Christ's pursuit, incarnation, sacrifice, cleansing, promised presence, Spirit-sealing, and unbreakable faithfulness—as the pattern for marital covenant love
And that's what I want to end with this morning, is to look specifically at how we see Christ in marriage, how the Holy Spirit brings us back to Christ in marriage. So I want to end with Ephesians 5. 22 through 32. And here in Ephesians 5, and we have the scripture we're going to end with here, Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus and he's exhorting married couples in some very practical ways. But what Paul doesn't do, Paul doesn't give a list of abstract or feel-good or therapeutic ideas to the people there in Ephesus. No, what Paul does is he uses 10 verses to explain to wives how they ought to love their husbands and husbands how they ought to love their wives. He goes through talking about the marriage dynamic, how husbands love their wives and wives love their husbands. And then Paul drops the bomb. The truth explodes in verse 32. Paul says this. Paul says, this mystery is profound. Talking about marriage, he just got done talking about marriage, how husbands love their wives and wives love their husbands. He says, this mystery is profound, and I'm saying that it refers to Christ and the church. This mystery is profound, and I'm saying that it refers to Christ and the church. Paul's saying there's something bigger going on In your marriage, your marriage is designed to be a beautiful picture or an illustration of the relationship Christ has with the church. So you want to know how to guard your marriage, how to keep covenant? Look at how Christ loves the church. We look at how Christ loves the church. We look at the gospel and we see Christ pursuing the church. Romans 5: While we were still sinners, Romans 5 says, while we were still sinners, while we were rebels, while we were Christ's enemies, while we were unfaithful, while we were the faithless ones, what was Jesus doing? Jesus was pursuing us. He was wooing us. He was making a way for us. Philippians 2 says that Christ, even though he was in the form of God, he humbled himself. He took on flesh. Emmanuel. That's what we're celebrating right here in the next month, the Advent season. We're celebrating Emmanuel, God with us, Jesus becoming flesh. Jesus became a servant. Jesus became flesh. Why? To make a way for His bride, to make a way for us, to make a way for the church to be holy. And it doesn't end there. Christ then takes our sin, He takes our shame, and by the shedding of His own blood and dying on the cross for us, Christ takes the punishment that was meant for us. Christ takes our unfaithfulness. Christ takes those whose garments are filled with violence and unfaithfulness and treachery, and what does He do? What does Christ do? With His very own blood, He washes us and He dresses us in robes of righteousness. He gives us the most beautiful bridal garments we could ever have, dazzling white, pure and spotless. And again, it doesn't end there. Christ then promises to never leave us or forsake us. I want to say that again: Christ promises to never leave us. Christ will not break covenant with those he died for. Christ will not break his promise to his bride. Christ will not divorce us. Ephesians 1 says that Christ seals his promise to us by giving us his very Spirit. Ephesians 1 says that, that God gives us the Holy Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing our inheritance, guaranteeing our standing with him, our relationship with him. What does Paul say in Romans 8? That nothing will separate us From the love of Christ, nothing. This is the beauty of the gospel as displayed in the way God designed marriage. That against all odds, when we had no hope, when we were a faithless and treacherous people, Christ pursued us, Christ redeemed us, and Christ was faithful, and he will remain faithful.
23 · Synthesizes the sermon's central theological claim: the marriage covenant exists fundamentally to tell the gospel story, making it a parable of Christ's covenant faithfulness to the church
The primary reason and purpose the marriage covenant was ordained and instituted by God and given to us as a gift, the reason we are not to cheapen or mess around with this marriage covenant is because this covenant, like Paul says, this mystery is intended to mirror or display or point to or to tell a story about Christ and the church. Our marriages are to be a parable of Christ's faithfulness to us. His love for us is seen in the gospel story, the riches of his mercy and grace.
24 · Issues the closing charge by asking both married and single listeners to consider what gospel story their marriages tell or will tell, calling them to guard their marriages by meditating on Christ's covenant love until it overflows into their relationships
So to close with this morning, I just want you to think about something. I want to ask you a question. If you're not married, you're thinking about marriage, I want you to think about this. If you're thinking about getting married, If you are married, I want to ask you all this. What story do you long for your marriage to tell? I want you to seriously consider that and pray about that when you leave. Talk about that with your spouse. If you're single and you're thinking about marriage, have you ever thought about that? Man, when I get married, What do I want my marriage to say about Christ and his covenant he's made with me? What's my vision for marriage? If you are married this morning, how is your marriage showing the world the gospel? That's my prayer for us this morning. That's my prayer. That's what I was praying for this last month. That the Holy Spirit would give us a greater revelation, that the Holy Spirit would give us a higher calling, a bigger picture as to what our marriages are to display, and that we would primarily guard our spirits and guard our marriages by meditating on Christ, meditating on the riches and the glorious mercy and grace of Christ. And his love and his faithfulness to us. A relationship that's marked by a people who are so caught up in the way Christ has pursued us and lavishes grace on us that we'd be so caught up in who Christ is, his mercy, his grace, the covenant he's made with us, what he's done for us, that it would just ooze out of our marriages and that our marriages would tell a story of the gospel and Christ's faithfulness for us.
25 · Steps outside the main argument to personally address those in struggling marriages, proclaiming that no one is beyond hope because Christ pursued faithless people and has the power to restore what is broken
And, you know, maybe you've walked through or you are walking through a difficult marriage. You're struggling in a marriage right now. You know what? The unfaithfulness, it's true for me as it is anyone in this room. We're all the same here. That's the good news of the gospel. We're never too far gone, whether it be our marriages or anything else. God can take brokenness. God can take unfaithfulness. God can take people in situations that appear hopeless. And because of what Jesus did on the cross, He can restore and renew and make whole everything that's been broken. That's the truth of the gospel. That's the story of every single person in this room who Christ has died for. That we were a faithful— faithless, not faithful, faithless and rebellious people that Christ pursued. And he died on the cross so that we could be joined with him, his bride. And he remains faithful to us. That's the power of Christ. That's the beauty of the gospel. And that's the power we have to guard ourselves from unfaithfulness and to give us hope this morning.
26 · Closing pastoral prayer asking the Holy Spirit to give the congregation a greater revelation of the gospel so their hearts would overflow with awe and gratitude, causing their marriages to become mission—telling the story of Christ's covenant love
Let's pray. Lord Jesus, God, we need your Holy Spirit. God, we need your Holy Spirit to give us a greater revelation of the gospel, of what your Son Jesus has done for us. God, when you proclaim over us that you've loved us, God, we want to be so in awe of that truth. God, we want to be so enamored. God, we want our hearts to be so filled with gratitude and love and awe. God, that every part of our life, including our marriages, would point back to your truth, to who you are, to what you've done for us, your glory, the riches of your mercy and grace. So God, I pray that you would fill us this morning with a greater revelation of who you are and what you've done for us. Help us, Lord God. God, I pray specifically in regards to our marriages. God, for those who would want to be married or considering marriage, God, guard us. Point us to the truth of who you are. God, help us to over and over and over again consider who you are and what you've done for us on the cross. God, I pray that we'd be a people that our marriages, just like Matt was saying before, our marriages would be a mission. They would tell a story. Of the gospel, of the truth of who you are, your faithfulness, your love. In Jesus' name, amen.